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Anyone have any cars they wish they had bought, offered an incredible once in a lifetime deal but for some reason or another just passed it up ? Two stand out ones for me are. 69 Dodge Charger 383 4 speed, price £3000, was around 1994, i was buying a (rough) Pontiac Firebird from a guy and his brother had the Charger for sale, had a rough interior, but was solid, bright Orange, running, MOT'd and had EPIC Slot mags, for 3K  Also around the same time was offered a Datsun 240Z, price £1000, this car had been in a bodyshop for a over a year, had a ton of work done, new chassis rails, floors, 1/4's, sills etc, etc, was now 100% rust free and straight as a die, just needed painted and assembled, car owner had gone to jail for a very long time, told the garage owner to sell it, garage owner offered it to me for the cost of the panels and labour, passed it up as i'd just bought a Mini  |
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold  86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold |
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,448
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A silver Saab 9000CD, ex-Swedish Embassy, with every box ticked on the options list with full history (as you'd expect). But the turbo had just got kippered and it needed a set of tyres, both of which I knew I couldn't afford and I had nowhere to keep it until I could.
The worst bit? It was free...
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plenty but biggest regret is my first car. I bought it from a mate of my dad's, had it for a day or two before realising the big ends had gone on the engine and in the mid 90s and with no experience and not even imagining you could put another engine in or fix it I thought that was it, car dead - so I gave it back.
Anglia 105e 1200 deluxe in absolutely rock solid condition bodywork wise - it was a beaut!
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Not car related, but someone was selling an 18 month old Aga cooker near me for £1500 (when they were about £4k new)...it just wouldn't fit in the house despite being my wife's dream cooker. She never forgave me for not getting it!!
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For me it was a genuine RS3100, MOT'd but needing TLC, that I could have easilly afforded but decided to buy a mint 1.6LS instead for the same amount !
Paul H
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Apr 26, 2013 10:09:42 GMT
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A silver Saab 9000CD, ex-Swedish Embassy, with every box ticked on the options list with full history (as you'd expect). But the turbo had just got kippered and it needed a set of tyres, both of which I knew I couldn't afford and I had nowhere to keep it until I could. The worst bit? It was free... Ah, forgot about the free ones i've been offered, a black 1983 E23 BMW 735i manual, just needed a windscreen and exhaust for the MOT (very expensive bits at the time though), had been in the garage i worked in for ages (something like 3 years), owner had lost all interest, ended up on the banger track  Also a lovely blue 1978 Lada 1600, (the one with the four headlight front), had been a parts chaser in the garage i worked in, owner was selling up, Lada was free, no one wanted it , don't know what happened to it but i'd expect the worst |
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold |
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Apr 26, 2013 11:30:34 GMT
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Datsun 100a from our very own Mr. Rattley. Was living at home at the time and hadn't got my license yet and my Dad wouldn't let me give it drive space, will probably never get that opportunity again.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553 
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Apr 26, 2013 11:47:01 GMT
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It was 1985. I went to look at a '67 Chevy Impala, Canadian-spec so RHD with a 327 in it rather than the 283 I think it was built with. Jacked rear, enormous slotmags, bit scruffy but an immaculate metallic blue vinyl interior and sounded (to the ears of an impressionable 20 year-old) magnificent. wallowy old thing, but no worse than the Mk3 Cortina I had at the time. Taxed, MOT'd, £400.I bought a 1600XL Capri instead. What a knob.  |
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craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,993
Club RR Member Number: 35
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Slipped through the net ?craig1010cc
@craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member 35
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Apr 26, 2013 11:58:46 GMT
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When I was doing my 1st year of my apprenticship I got told of a damaged metro that was going for £400, an ex rallycross 6R4! Never found out how bad the damage was and how much was left of it
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thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,650
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Apr 26, 2013 12:32:20 GMT
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1998, I was 16 and in Boston staying with my uncle for the summer.
He was in a builder and I was working with him on the sites. Something was playing up on his new GMC van and he went to the his normal garage to get them to have a look.
While he was chatting I spotted this amazing piece of Automotive porn sitting outside. It was black and covered with a thick layer of dust, looking very sorry for itself.
The garage owner spots me nosing around it and tells me that some old lady sold her house locally and moved to Florida. The car had been her late husbands and was sitting in the garage for years, She just asked them to get rid of it. "$1000 bucks and you can have it" he says to me and then goes back chatting to my uncle.
I didn't know what it was but I wanted it. I had the cash but no idea how I could get it back to Ireland so that was that.
What was it?....... a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda
Still galls me ..... If only I could do a Biff Tanner on it and travel back in time to slap my younger self.
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Apr 26, 2013 16:21:30 GMT
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I was just pondering the 1970 or 1969 Boss 429 Mustang that I was trying to convince my dad to buy with me for £10k around 15 years ago. All genuine and in very nice condition.
Charlie
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Apr 26, 2013 16:23:00 GMT
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a datsun 160j sss coupe had 4 slashed tyres free to collect,i didnt want it and they paid a scrap yard to take it away! kicked myself since ,mind you it was the early 90s and worth 0:(
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in africa every 60 seconds.....a minute passes.
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Apr 26, 2013 16:30:04 GMT
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And I remember being up a mountain in a village in Croatia in 1994 and spotting an abandoned but solid and dry 23 window split VW bus in a farm. It hadn't moved for a while and was sun bleached on one side - faded orange. I tried convincing the girlfriend that it was the perfect souvenir to take back to the UK with us - god knows how - but she wasn't keen.
Charlie
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Anglia68
Posted a lot
Powered By Boredom.
Posts: 2,049
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Apr 26, 2013 16:35:20 GMT
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When I was 17 I had the chance of buying a caged, wide wheeled, V8 FD Victor ex-race car that belonged to the son of a local garage owner but at the time £200 was way beyond my means but it was "the meanest looking car in the world,ever." ;D
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Last Edit: Apr 26, 2013 18:09:19 GMT by Anglia68
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craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,993
Club RR Member Number: 35
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Slipped through the net ?craig1010cc
@craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member 35
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Apr 26, 2013 17:11:52 GMT
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I also remember when I was 13 seeing a bright yellow mk2 escort 2dr, 13x7 RS 4 spokes and a 1760 cross flow on 40's for sale, £450 ;( well beyond my paper round budget
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Apr 26, 2013 17:27:02 GMT
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In 1997 I turned down an ae86 for 250 quid because I wanted a supra. At the time I'd never even seen one before and I thought it looked a bit boring.
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R.S. Autotech. Servicing/Repairs/Diagnostics.
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Apr 26, 2013 17:30:17 GMT
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I also remember when I was 13 seeing a bright yellow mk2 escort 2dr, 13x7 RS 4 spokes and a 1760 cross flow on 40's for sale, £450 ;( well beyond my paper round budget Ha, just recently i dug out some Classic Ford mags from 2001/2, the classifieds were full of Escorts like that for sale, also mint MK2 RS2000's for around 2.5K, need to re-mortgage the house to buy a MK1 or MK2 now. |
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold |
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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Apr 26, 2013 18:48:22 GMT
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Back in 1996 was offered a TR6 in white mint bodywork but the engine was running rough
new rag top, £1500 by my elderly neighbour who was told he had to give up driving
I said no... happy with my MK4 cortina at the time
What a bell end!
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'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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dave80
Part of things
Posts: 408
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Apr 26, 2013 19:15:36 GMT
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capri (think it was a 1.3)in beige absolutely mint,got told £100 missed it by a day or two.would of been around 1999,also a mk2 escort two door,one owner low miles in great condition for about £350,but decided it was a bit too much!idiot!
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sierra 1.6 ghia
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mikeymk
Part of things
'85 Polo Coupe S 1.6 16v
Posts: 931
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Apr 26, 2013 21:02:39 GMT
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In 1992 i had three grand in my pocket, literally, and was at a phone box picking randomly a car to buy from the local rag. I was 18, and had sold my 10yo Escort 1.3L 5dr only a couple of days before, leaving me trigger happy to get back behind the wheel within the hour of getting the loan.
There was a late 90s Orion Ghia i wanted to look at, but i was won over by a Rover Metro 1.3 CityX because it was novel and less than two years old.
I'd looked at other Fords as well as the Orion but they were old, and the white RS1800 didn't appeal for a second thought, because it just looked like a 1.3L with a chin spoiler and a blue stripe, it wasn't immaculate and i just couldn't see how it was worth the money - after all, the insurance was crazy, i could afford the Metro and pay the insurance off that day..
Little did i know about the RS1800. I thought it was just an L/Popular with a 1.8 pinto, didn't realize a legendary 16v lump made it faster than an RS2000, pretty special to those who knew, and in 1992 MK2 Escorts generally were the choice of those not fortunate enough to get such a loan at a time..
Today, that car would be worth over 30k. The Metro City is unlikely to have survived.
My property investing savvy was even worse - in 1999 i rented a 40k flat. In the nine years i lived there i paid over 40k in rent. I moved out of it when it was worth 100k. So if i'd bought it i would have been 100k better off.
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